Q: Hi I read your valued comments on buying and selling of agriculture land for NRI. Here is a my situation. I currently live in Canada and holding agriculture land in India.

I inherited this agriculture land before I migrated. Now, I am in process of getting Canadian Citizenship after that am planning to get Overseas Citizenship of India. I want to know what will be legal position of agricultural land I have and will it be possible to transfer it to my kids in future as they will be OCI ?

Thank you,

 Wazir

A: I believe you cannot sell or transfer the land as a gift to your children if they are also living in Canada and are NRIs.

NRIs can acquire agricultural land only by way of inheritance.

You can sell or gift it to a person resident in India who is a citizen of India.

Regarding the legality of your ownership of the land after your migration. Here is an excerpt from RBI faq:

Q. Can a person who had bought immovable property when he was a resident, continue to hold such property even after becoming an NRI/PIO?

A. Yes, he can continue to hold the residential / commercial property / agricultural land/ plantation property / farm house in India without the approval of the Reserve Bank.

You may want to contact the RBI directly or a lawyer in India to seek clarification. Ownership of agricultural land can be tricky for NRIs. Furthermore you should take steps to ensure that the land is not encroached upon by people in your absence.

Encashment of Mutual Fund Certificates without PAN Card

Q: Hi,

Thanks for the wonderful service to NRI community world wide. I need some information from you for my questions/concerns.

I left India in 1992 and at that time there was no such thing as PAN. I had purchased some SBI Mutual fund certificates around 1990 which were matured in 1995. However, I was out of India, totally forgot about those certificates and all my bank accounts were in-operative for an extended period and they are all de-funct now.

Last year, while in India on Visitor visa, going through some papers, I came across these SBI Mutual fund certificates and visited one SBI Branch and tried to encash these certificates. They sent me to their Main Branch and the Main Branch sent me to Mutual Fund Office in New Delhi. Finally they were ready to pay me outstanding amount, but they wanted my PAN card! I told them, that I do not have a PAN card, and requested them to credit the money to my NRE Savings account in ICICI Bank, which they refused.

So, without any other way, I tried to apply for a PAN card while I was in India, but they wanted proof of address, ( I thought I can submit an ICICI bank statement, but they email me a statement every month, which show neither my name nor my address, that's another storey).
My question is, why can't I get my certificates encashed without a PAN card, as I bought them when there was no such thing as PAN card? Is there a way around?

Your reply and help is highly appreciated.

Regards
Sri

As of 1st Jan 2008, quoting of valid PAN is mandatory for all investments in India. The bank officials hence could not legally have cashed your certificates in the absence of a Pan Number.

If you are still in India then you should contact a branch of the ICICI bank and they should be able to print a statement for you showing your address. Axis Bank where I have an NRO and NRE account sent in an application for a PAN Card on my behalf and I was able to get it in three weeks. 

If you have left India then you can apply for your Pan Card online.  

When you are able to cash your certificates I think you may have to deposit them in your NRO account as depositing in NRE account may not be allowed as you bought these certificates before leaving India and that must have been in purchased with Indian Rupees. I realize some of the procedures in India can frustrate many NRIs who visit India for a short duration but they are a part of the system and we all have no choice but to follow the rules. 

A: Evicting tenants is next to impossible in India without a formal written agreement. The time for verbal agreements is long gone and in reality even written agreements run into problems and laws in India are unfortunately misused by tenants.

The chances are, your tenant after a set number of years may even claim ownership! alarming as it may sound this can happen. In many cases tenants who stop paying rent in the end claim to have paid cash all along. Hence one should NEVER accept cash payments when renting properties in India.

My advice to you is to get in touch with your tenant and come to a mutual understanding that he vacate the premises as you are moving back to India and require the property for your own use. This will not be easy and you probably will have to agree to write off the rent owned and probably pay the tenant from your own pocket to help him find place to rent. All this may sound absurd but this is probably the easier way out. You also have the alterative to get a lawyer and take the legal course which may take anywhere from five to twenty years to resolve depending on how much of a pull you have with the authorities.

NRIs PLEASE BE AWARE
NRIs who rent properties in India should if possible, make it a point not to rent their properties to the same party for more than five years. It is better to change tenants periodically just to be on the safe side. Once a tenant has lived in a place continuously for ten years, problems can arise if the tenant and landlord do not get along.

Import of cars to India by Foreign Nationals working in India

Q: Hi There,

I am a Citizen of New Zealand who also holds an OCI Card. I am being posted to India by my company for work for approximately 2 yrs. What is the rate of duty payable if i bring my car along and wish to take it back with me when i return to New Zealand.

Thanks & Regards,